1. Jon Steven Young was born on October 11,1961 and is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League for 15 seasons, most notably with the San Francisco 49ers.
67 Facts About Steve Young
1. 2.
Steve Young was drafted by and played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
3.
Steve Young played college football for the BYU Cougars, setting school and NCAA records en route to being runner-up for the 1983 Heisman Trophy.
4.
Amidst a contract dispute with the Express, Steve Young left the fledgling USFL midway through the 1985 season to join the Buccaneers.
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Steve Young was named the AP's NFL Most Valuable Player in 1992 and 1994, and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX where he led the 49ers to a victory over the San Diego Chargers with a record six touchdown passes.
6.
Steve Young is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
7.
Steve Young was an extremely efficient passer, leading the league in passer rating a record six times and completion percentage and yards per attempt five times.
8.
At the time of his retirement, Steve Young had the highest passer rating among NFL quarterbacks with at least 1,500 passing attempts.
9.
Steve Young earned 1978 All-FCIAC West Division First Team honors in his junior year, his first year as a starter.
10.
Steve Young was heavily recruited by the University of North Carolina.
11.
However, Steve Young worked hard to improve his passing skills and eventually succeeded record-setting Jim McMahon as BYU's starting quarterback.
12.
Steve Young finished second in voting for the Heisman Trophy, behind Nebraska running back Mike Rozier.
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Steve Young finished his college career with 592 pass completions for 7,733 yards and 56 touchdowns, along with 1,048 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns.
14.
Steve Young was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
15.
At the time Steve Young left college the USFL was proving a serious challenge to the established NFL, and he had a choice to be a top pick in either league.
16.
Steve Young was selected by the USFL Los Angeles Express in the first round of the 1984 draft held that January.
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Steve Young was convinced, and signed with the Express in March 1984.
18.
Steve Young agreed to take his payment in the form of an annuity paid out over forty years to help the fledgling team.
19.
Steve Young had a respectable year, highlighted by becoming the first pro football player ever to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 in a single game.
20.
Steve Young contributed some money, as did the team trainer, and the driver took them to the game.
21.
However, facing the prospect of both a faltering owner and an unstable league, Steve Young had already renegotiated his 10-year deal down to 4 years, and had already collected a total of $4.8 million of the $5.8 million due in total through the final year of that deal, working out to an annual rate of pay of $2.4 million for his first two seasons that was the highest in all of American sports.
22.
Steve Young grew increasingly dissatisfied with the disarray surrounding the Express.
23.
The Buccaneers selected University of Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde first overall in the 1987 NFL draft because Steve Young was deemed a bust.
24.
Steve Young was traded to the San Francisco 49ers on April 24,1987, to serve as a backup to Joe Montana.
25.
Steve Young played behind Montana for four years, but shone as a backup.
26.
The 49ers still lost the game, but Steve Young had a good performance, completing 12 of 17 pass attempts for 158 yards, a touchdown, and an interception while leading San Francisco in rushing with 72 yards and a touchdown on six carries.
27.
On October 30,1988, Steve Young ran for a 49-yard, game-winning touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings.
28.
Steve Young started the game out with a 73-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor, after Montana went down with an injury.
29.
In 1989, Steve Young displayed potential to become the team's starter in the future.
30.
Steve Young rushed for a career-high 102 yards on just eight carries against the New Orleans Saints on December 23,1990, making him only the second 49ers quarterback to rush for at least 100 yards in a single game.
31.
Steve Young finished the season with an NFL best 101.8 passer rating.
32.
Steve Young ended up as San Francisco's starting quarterback, but got off to a rough start.
33.
Steve Young finished the season with 3,465 passing yards and 537 rushing yards, along with an NFL-best 25 touchdown passes and 107.0 passer rating, earning him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and his first selection to the Pro Bowl.
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Steve Young was the first quarterback ever to record a triple-digit rating in consecutive seasons.
35.
Many credit his turnaround to the mentoring of the 49ers' new offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, who worked with Steve Young on combining his running skill with on-the-move passing decisions.
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Steve Young was now the 49ers' undisputed starter, and would remain so for the rest of his career.
37.
Steve Young threw for two touchdowns, while adding 47 yards and another touchdown on the ground.
38.
Steve Young threw for 325 yards and rushed for 49 yards, making him the first player ever to finish a Super Bowl as the game's leader in both rushing and passing yards.
39.
The victory capped off an incredible year for Steve Young, who had one of the best seasons by a quarterback in NFL history.
40.
Additionally, Steve Young broke Joe Montana's single-season mark with a then-record 112.8 passer rating, and demonstrated his great scrambling ability, accumulating another 289 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.
41.
Steve Young entered the 1998 season at age 37 and some began to wonder if his skills would diminish because of his history of injuries and a general decline in his game due to age.
42.
However, Steve Young silenced all critics , putting up career numbers in passing yards and passing touchdowns.
43.
Over that span of seasons from 1995 to 1998, Steve Young led the NFL in passer rating twice, and led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes in 1998.
44.
Steve Young was knocked out of the game with a concussion, and did not return again for the rest of the season due to symptoms of post-concussion syndrome.
45.
Steve Young is particularly concerned about certain positions that take frequent hits, such as running backs and linemen.
46.
At the time of his retirement, Steve Young had the highest career passer rating ever, and only trailed Cunningham in rushing yards for a quarterback.
47.
Steve Young was the NFL's top rated passer in six different seasons and led the league in touchdown passes four times.
48.
In 20 postseason games, Steve Young threw 20 touchdown passes with only 13 interceptions, and scored eight touchdowns on the ground.
49.
Steve Young was sacked 290 times, most in franchise history.
50.
In 1999, Steve Young was ranked No 63 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.
51.
Steve Young was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 5,2005; he was the first left-handed quarterback to be so honored.
52.
Steve Young was enshrined August 7,2005, and his induction speech was given by his father, LeGrande "Grit" Steve Young.
53.
Steve Young was the 11th player in team history to receive this honor.
54.
Steve Young is the only 49er in team history to wear No 8.
55.
In 2000, Steve Young gave the opening prayer at the Republican National Convention.
56.
In 2007, Young co-founded Huntsman Gay Global Capital with billionaire industrialist Jon M Huntsman and former Bain Capital executive Robert C Gay.
57.
In 2011, Steve Young was one of several notable BYU athletes and coaches who appeared in the school's "Real Cougar" advertising campaign, which featured the individuals telling an actual cougar about being a "real cougar".
58.
Steve Young has both performed dramatic roles and appeared as himself in a limited acting career.
59.
In 1995, Steve Young appeared as himself in the Season 6, Episode 12 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210.
60.
Steve Young made a guest appearance as himself in season 8 of the NBC comedy series Wings in the episode "Just Call Me Angel".
61.
Steve Young was supposed to receive a part in the 1998 movie There's Something About Mary - a role specifically written for him - but he turned it down.
62.
Steve Young was part of a round of layoffs that included many notable on-air personalities.
63.
Steve Young serves as a National Advisor to ASCEND: A Humanitarian Alliance.
64.
Steve Young serves as the national spokesman for an organization founded by former Save Darfur Coalition executive director and founder, David Rubenstein.
65.
Steve Young began his affiliation with the organization in 2009, when he became the honorary league commissioner for their charitable dodgeball tournaments held on college campuses nationwide.
66.
Steve Young is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
67.
Steve Young is a great-great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, second president of the LDS Church, for whom BYU is named.